How to Write the First Draft of a Book
Every writer has their process, their way of getting from an idea in their head to words on a page. The first draft is one of the biggest milestones in the publishing process and I wanted to share how I got to the first draft of book three in the Kinloch series.
What is a Beta Reader?
Beta readers come in lots of different forms, and authors have their own definitions of what makes one, but essentially, a beta reader is someone who reads your work before it is published and offers their opinion. I’ve used beta readers in many ways and have found them absolutely instrumental in my writing process.
The dangerous internet search history of an author
What does the internet search history look like for other authors? How weird could it get? How dodgy could it look? I asked around the writing community, and holy guacamole there are some good stories out there.
Best Facebook Groups for a Romance Author
Unless you start your career as an author on a creative writing course, or with a bunch of like-minded people in a different setting, chances are you’ll be writing on your own. Writing can be a lonely task at the best of times. Here are some of the author Facebook groups I’m in, which you might also find useful.
On finding stories
I love meeting new people because I want to find out what their stories are, what brought them to this exact moment. I’m the person you don’t want to sit next to on a plane as I want you to lay your life and your soul out for my delectation. The more different your experiences are to mine, the more I want to gobble them up.
On writers block
You know your characters, you love them, and then they turn their backs on you and give you the cold shoulder. Suddenly you no longer know what they’re going to say or do. Writer’s block is where you simply don’t know what is coming next in your story or how to get around a problem. So what to do? How can you get over writer’s block?
On confidence in writing
My writing career is a long road strewn with abandoned cars, bicycles, and the odd scooter. I was the queen of starting and then never finishing a piece of work, coming up with great ideas, only to abandon them. In terms of Belbin team roles, I’m a Resource Investigator, not a Completer Finisher.
On why I write romance novels
Why do I write romance novels? Why do I write love stories that make you laugh and leave a smile on your face? Because I reject the reality fed to us by the mainstream media and substitute my own. I used to consume the news many times a day. I would wake up in the morning and check online for what had happened whilst I slept. I would listen on the radio in the car whilst driving, and then watch it later on the television.
On plotting vs pantsing
In the writing world, people often like to describe themselves as a ‘planner’ or a ‘pantser’. Are you someone who carefully plots their stories, writes pages of notes about the backstory of their characters, and only writes the first word when you know how each scene will play out? Or are you a pantser, the kind of person who wakes up from an awesome dream about a dinosaur having sex with a werewolf in space and decides to write about it, without any clue as to how or when it will end?
On finding the right word
Often when I write, I find it very difficult to find the right words to describe how a character is feeling, or how an environment should be described. I see it in my head and feel it in my body, but it’s like trying to find a word to describe it that doesn’t exist in the English language.
